I share my experience as a recreational runner, learning to eat Paleo, and how the two affect each other.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Flaxseed crackers

Crunchy. Salty. Dippable. I totally miss chips when I'm paleo. Actually, what I miss is dipping chips into things. Salsa, guacamole, french onion dip . . . And it seems like where theres a holiday party, there are dips. Some are totally paleo friendly, like baba ganoush, and go great with crudités (aka carrots and celery). But salsa on carrots is lame. You NEED something thin and salty to transport that cilantro-y goodness to your mouth. That's where Flaxseed Crackers come in.

I first had flaxseed crackers at a dessert spot in San Diego called Extraordinary Desserts. The Little Italy location has a savory menu as well and a well rounded Gluten Free and Dairy free menu. Usually if an item is both gluten free AND dairy free, it's pretty close to being paleo. I ordered the flaxseed crackers and the basil-walnut pesto. They were mind blowing good. I came home determined to recreate them. Luckily I had purchased the Caveman Feast Cooking e-book, by George of Civilized Caveman Cooking Creations fame. The walnut-basil pesto recipe in that book is IDENTICAL to the one at the restaurant. I'd give you that recipe, but honestly, I think you should also purchase that cookbook. The NY Marinade in it is COMPLETELY worth the cost of the book, as well as all the other wonderful recipes in it.

I know, that's totally mean of me to rave about the pesto and not share the recipe. But I WILL share the flaxseed cracker recipe with you. And then you can go purchase the cookbook OR ask Santa to bring it to you.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Soak the flaxseed in the water for 30 minutes (at which point it will have become completely gelatinous.).

2. While the flaxseed is soaking, place the tomatoes, basil, garlic and salt in a blender and puree. When the flaxseed is ready, add the contents of the bowl and the olive oil to the blender and give a few short bursts to combine everything.

3. Take 2 cookie sheets and cover with foil. Spray or rub olive oil on the cookie sheets—do not skip this step or your crackers will permanently adhere to the foil.

(note: I use the Reynolds NON-STICK wrap and NO oil is needed. That stuff is AMAZING!)

4. Drop half the mixture onto the foil on each cookie sheets. Wet your hand and then spread the mixture as flat and thin as you can, rewetting your hand as needed to make spreading the sticky mixture easier.

5. Place the cookie sheets in the oven at 170 degrees. In about 2 hours, the top of the cracker will have dried out. You should be able to loosen the edges of the flax crackers and flip the entire sheet and replace on the cookie sheet backside up. (If you can't peel the crackers off the foil, don't sweat it. Just leave it as is, or try again in another hour.) Turn the oven down to 150 degrees and leave it for about 8 hours.

(Note: My oven is OLD. It doesn't go lower than 200 degrees. Upon experimentation I found that 200 degrees for 2 hours was enough to completely dehydrate the flaxseed. I check it around the 1 hour mark and flip it. If its still too wet, I leave it in for an extra half hour before flipping it)

By then, the crackers should be completely dehydrated and stiff. Cool completely, remove from foil, break into smaller pieces, and store in a plastic bag. It should be fine for a couple of weeks. Serve with dips, tapenades, cheeses, or just by itself.

If you used flaxmeal or ground flax instead you'd have to use a binding agent, like egg white. This cracker recipe relies on the natural gel that the flax seeds release when they are soaked. That gel is what dries and holds the seeds (and flavorings) together when its baked. :) I know there is a yummy almond "wheat thin" recipe out there that I imagine you could use flax meal instead for the extra omega-3s. That recipe relies on egg whites as a binding agent.